City Council Member Piedmont-Smith to Host Constituent Meeting

Dear all,

Once again I will hold my monthly constituent meeting: This Saturday, July 31, 11 am to 12 noon at Rachael's Cafe. I hope to see some of you there!

Best wishes,

Isabel

Isabel Piedmont-Smith

City Council Representative, District 5

City Council Member Piedmont-Smith to Host Constituent Meeting

This Saturday, Bloomington City Council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith will once again hold her monthly constituent meeting, 11:00 am to 12:00 noon at Rachael’s Café, 300 E. 3rd St . The District 5 representative and current council president holds these informal monthly meetings to provide an update on city issues and a forum for constituent concerns. Rachael’s Café is a locally owned business, located at the corner of 3rd St. and Lincoln St .

“During my July meeting, I will review recent issues before the Council, including the annual budget presentations by city departments,” said Piedmont-Smith. “As always, I will open up the meeting for attendees to discuss topics related to city government that are on their minds.”

Piedmont-Smith encourages all Bloomington residents, not just those in District 5, to join her for this Saturday meeting. Free coffee will be available, and Rachael’s Café serves breakfast and lunch for those interested in combining a meal with the meeting.

Piedmont hosts constituent meetings at Rachael’s Café on the last Saturday of every month at 11 am. More information about Councilmember Piedmont-Smith is available on her website, www.PiedmontForCouncil.org.

BPNA Meeting Tues. July 27, 2010

Our July meeting will be this Tuesday, July 27. As usual, we'll meet at 7:00p.m. at the Free Methodist Church at the corner of Grimes and S. Lincoln.

AGENDA

Stormwater Runoff

Continue our discussion of the stormwater issue. Report on new Google group for stormwater ideas and concerns.

Conservation District

To further our understanding of the conservation district issue, we'll begin with a discussion about current city zoning policies, and talk about how a conservation district works. We need people to get involved in a subcommittee to study the question of applying for a conservation district for the neighborhood. Please let Mary know if you are interested in serving on this committee.

Neighborhood Improvement Grant

The city's Neighborhood Improvement Grant process is about to begin. We need ideas for projects that will improve the Bryan Park neighborhood. We'll need to apply by 9/24 in order to be considered for one of the grants. You can see past neighborhood grant projects on the city's Web site.

Neighborhood Block Party

Update on plans for the annual block party.

Food vending in Bryan Park

A brief discussion about food vending in Bryan Park.

Atwater and Henderson intersection

According to the Herald-Times, city officials have announced that improvements to this intersection have been pushed back a year.

Incident Report

Regular monthly report from Dick and Mary Lou Mitchell, our Neighborhood Watch representatives. One item of note is a report of a theft at the Bryan Park pool. An Eastside Neighborhood Association member reported that her bag was stolen while she was in the pool. She recommends that pool users check items of value in the the mesh bags available for this purpose inside the bathhouse.

Please let me know if you'd like to add anything to the agenda.

DON’T TRASH IT…DONATE IT!

We will be in your area so you can easily donate your usable stuff to help our neighbors in need and keep it out of the landfill.

You can drop off your usable donations the next 2 Sundays from 2 pm - 5 pm:

Sunday, July 25th

S. Washington, between 1st & 2nd Streets

Look for the St. Vincent de Paul & Jeanne Walters trucks.

Sunday, August 1st

Fippinger Residence

1022 E. Wylie Street

Between Woodlawn Ave. and Hawthorne Dr.

One block south of 1st Street

We can find a home for almost everything:

Food (non-perishable), clothes, bedding, pillows, blankets, kitchenware, laundry detergent (even if partially used), toiletries, books, school supplies, back packs, appliances, furniture, building materials, etc.

Your donations will help:

Hoosier Hills Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, Shalom Community Center, Teachers Warehouse, St. Vincent de Paul, Backstreet Missions, Interfaith Winter Shelter, Goodwill, Boxcar Books, Bloomington Area Birth Services, etc.

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Or, donate it yourself:

Furniture & Appliances in good condition

Contact St. Vincent de Paul for drop off or pick up: (812) 961-1510 or pickup@bloomingtonsvdp.org

Schedule at least 3 days ahead of time.

Furniture, Appliances, Building Material, Hardware

Habitat ReStore: 300 W. 11th

Call for free pick up: 331-2660

Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 10:30 am – 5:30 pm

Wed: noon – 5: 30; Sat: 8:30 am – 3:30 pm

Check for appropriate donations:

www.monroecountyhabitat.org/restore

Goodwill (east side): 840 S. Auto Mall Rd.

Between mall & theater, across from Pier 1 Imports

Mon – Sat: 9 am - 9 pm; Sunday: noon – 6 pm


Goodwill (west side): 1284 Liberty Drive

Between W. 2nd and 3rd Streets, across from Menards

Mon – Sat: 9 am - 9 pm; Sunday: noon – 6 pm

Thrift Store: 1911 S. Walnut (just south of Miller Dr.)

Mon – Sat: 10 am – 8 pm

Sponsored by the nonprofit 501(c)3, community group:

Volunteers for Change

Contact: volunteersforchangeemail@gmail.com

Farm and produce vending in Bryan Park

From Rob Fischman, Elm Heights Neighborhood Association:

Anne Kibbler and I have been talking about the recent removal of the informal Friday morning farm vendors from the northwest parking lot of Bryan Park. If we want to revive the vending or develop something along the lines of a local/satellite weekly informal market, the Elm Heights and Bryan Park neighborhoods will need to join efforts and work with the city parks board.

From Anne to city:

For the past two years, I have been buying eggs and meat from Rhodes Family Farm in the upper Henderson parking lot of Bryan Park on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Recently, the farmer was asked to move his business elsewhere. Some of us in the Bryan Park neighborhood who are customers of Rhodes have since discussed the desirability of having a local vendor sell goods within walking and biking distance of our homes -- a situation that would seem to support the city's goals of sustainable living. In the last few weeks Luke Rhodes was at Bryan Park, another vendor selling produce set up shop next to him, making the location even more attractive to local customers. The parking lot was never even close to full -- in fact, there were rarely more than a half-dozen cars there at any given time, so it did not appear to me that customers were hindering park patrons.

It is my understanding that food vendors with Monroe County Health Department permits may ask permission from the Parks and Recreation Department to do business on park property. Could you please clarify for me what Rhodes and other local vendors would have to do if they wished to return to Bryan Park?

Reply from Mick Renneisen (City of Bloomington):

Thanks for your email regarding vending at Bryan Park. Current Parks policy requires anyone selling a good or service to obtain a permit from our Department. As you stated, if that product is a food/beverage, it is also regulated by Monroe County Health. Vendors who sell products on City property are also required to get an Itinerant Merchant's License from the City. These processes are used to help protect the health/safety of our citizens and to regulate use of a park, or other City property, in order to protect against an activity that might interrupt or inhibit the basic functions and use of a park, or other City property, by other citizens. Having said that, we are receptive to a discussion regarding the possibility of a vending arrangement on a limited, and possibly, trial basis.

In order to pursue this matter further, we would have to discuss this with our Board of Parks Commissioners. We are scheduling a retreat with them in mid-September. This would be an appropriate item to add to that agenda. If you could put together your neighborhood's ideas prior to September and submit them to me, I would be happy to add this item to our agenda.

We'll discuss this at our next regular BPNA meeting on July 27.

Neighborhood Sadness

From Ginny Mcnellen:

Our neighbor, Jim May died on Friday, July 9th. Many I'm sure knew and bantered with Jim during his daily walks, many times accompanied by Diane. They also attended neighborhood meetings prior to Jim's health problems. Jim was a profoundly interesting, knowledgeable and caring person. He will be very missed.

Historic Commission Meeting, Rain Barrel Workshop, June 2010 Newsletter

Historic Preservation Commission Meeting

The Bryan Park Survey is again on the agenda at this Thursday's meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission. The meeting is at 4:00 PM on Thursday, July 8, in the McCloskey Room in the Showers (City Hall) Building. This is a continuation of the discussion from last month's meeting, and involves our possible decision to apply for Conservation District status. All are welcome to attend.

From Ria Collee:

Rain Barrel Workshop is this Sat. at Karst Farm Park. Some people in the neighborhood were interested in getting a rainbarrel. These are really cheap since we got them from the Coca-Cola Co. The charge is for the pieces and parts to retrofit them from food grade barrels to rainbarrels and some for the time spent putting them together. Here is the flyer for the event.

June 2010 Newsletter

Thanks to everyone who did such a great job on this month's newsletter. Special thanks to Anne Hedin, Jan Sorby, and Mary Lou Mitchell. Thanks also to the volunteers who deliver the newsletter throughout the neighborhood.

BRYAN PARK NEIGHBORHOOD MINUTES

The monthly meeting was held on June 22 at the Free Methodist Church.

Jacqui Bauer, the city's new sustainability coordinator, shared initiatives and answered questions.
This took up the majority of the meeting.

The group voted to retain the current officers for the next year.
President - Mary Miller
Vice President - Jan Sorby
Secretary - Jennie Bauer
Treasurer - Mary Lou Mitchell

Ann Hedin will have the newspaper ready for distribution soon.